Health
Discover facts about health. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Health
Pressure on a sensitive area of the neck can trigger a reflex that slows the heart and lowers blood pressure.
Pressure on a sensitive area of the neck can trigger a reflex that slows the heart and lowers blood pressure. The carotid sinus monitors pressure, and…
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The brain processes pain without feeling pain in its own tissue.
The brain processes pain without feeling pain in its own tissue. Brain tissue lacks the pain-sensing nerve endings found in many other parts of the body. The…
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Your nose and ears can change shape long after childhood growth ends.
Your nose and ears can change shape long after childhood growth ends. Aging changes skin, connective tissue and support structures, allowing parts of the face…
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The excitement at a children’s party is easy to blame on the cake.
The excitement at a children’s party is easy to blame on the cake. Controlled studies reviewed in a major meta-analysis did not find the expected average…
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Active days and drinking days overlapped in a diary study.
Active days and drinking days overlapped in a diary study. Researchers following adults' daily reports found that people tended to drink more on days when…
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Every swallow briefly interrupts your breathing.
Every swallow briefly interrupts your breathing. Your throat is a shared junction for food and air, so swallowing coordinates a short breathing pause with…
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Dermatologists have definitively proven that shaving body hair does not alter its thickness, color, or rate of growth, it merely blunts the tip of the hair shaft, making the stubble feel coarser as it grows back out.
Dermatologists have definitively proven that shaving body hair does not alter its thickness, color, or rate of growth, it merely blunts the tip of the hair…
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Hitting your funny bone actually has nothing to do with bones at all, but is rather the painful compression of the ulnar nerve against the humerus where it passes near the surface of the elbow.
Hitting your funny bone actually has nothing to do with bones at all, but is rather the painful compression of the ulnar nerve against the humerus where it…
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Consuming excessive amounts of carrots can legitimately turn your skin bright orange, a medical condition officially known as carotenemia that primarily affects the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet.
Consuming excessive amounts of carrots can legitimately turn your skin bright orange, a medical condition officially known as carotenemia that primarily…
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Alcohol can stop a memory from being stored while a person is still awake.
Alcohol can stop a memory from being stored while a person is still awake. During an alcohol-induced blackout, someone may talk and move while the brain fails…
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Grapefruit can make the same pill deliver a larger dose to your bloodstream.
Grapefruit can make the same pill deliver a larger dose to your bloodstream. Its compounds can block an intestinal enzyme that normally breaks down part of…
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A water-before-breakfast experiment cut intake by about 13%.
A water-before-breakfast experiment cut intake by about 13%. In a small study, 24 older adults with overweight or obesity ate breakfast on two occasions.…
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BMI counts a pound of muscle like a pound of fat.
BMI counts a pound of muscle like a pound of fat. The calculation uses only weight and height, so it cannot tell what makes up that weight or where fat is…
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Researchers are testing whether your tongue could identify you.
Researchers are testing whether your tongue could identify you. The tongue's surface has distinctive shapes, grooves, and textures that can be captured in…
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Researchers caught 'hangry' in people's everyday diaries.
Researchers caught 'hangry' in people's everyday diaries. For 21 days, 64 participants reported hunger and mood several times a day. Greater hunger was…
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Swallowing eight spiders a year in your sleep is a complete statistical fabrication deliberately invented in the early nineteen-nineties to prove how easily people will believe…
Swallowing eight spiders a year in your sleep is a complete statistical fabrication deliberately invented in the early nineteen-nineties to prove how easily…
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Shrinking skin can make a dead person's nails look longer.
Shrinking skin can make a dead person's nails look longer. As tissue dries and retracts, more of an existing nail or hair shaft can become exposed. That…
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Your body spends energy on much more than workouts.
Your body spends energy on much more than workouts. Standing, pacing, housework, and small movements all contribute to non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or…
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Blue eyes don't actually contain any blue pigment, they are simply brown eyes with a lack of melanin in the front layer of the iris, causing light to scatter and reflect back as…
Blue eyes don't actually contain any blue pigment, they are simply brown eyes with a lack of melanin in the front layer of the iris, causing light to scatter…
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Your sleeping brain still notices unfamiliar voices.
Your sleeping brain still notices unfamiliar voices. In a study of 17 sleepers, unfamiliar voices produced more brief arousals and characteristic bursts of…
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Your biggest butt muscle works harder when you run.
Your biggest butt muscle works harder when you run. The gluteus maximus helps control the forward pitch of your trunk during running. A study comparing…
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Severe cold can change the odds of surviving a stopped heart.
Severe cold can change the odds of surviving a stopped heart. Hypothermia lowers the body's oxygen demand, which can allow neurological recovery after…
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Neurological wiring in some individuals gets wildly crossed in a condition called synesthesia, causing them to physically taste words, see music as vibrant colors, or associate…
Neurological wiring in some individuals gets wildly crossed in a condition called synesthesia, causing them to physically taste words, see music as vibrant…
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A growling stomach is the sound of moving plumbing.
A growling stomach is the sound of moving plumbing. Muscles squeeze gas and liquid through your digestive tract, creating the rumbles called borborygmi. Food…
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